The Scale of the Task

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1 WAR GRAVES IN THE UK: A UNIQUE APPROACH TO COMMEMORATION AND CARE In this article we look at why there are more than 300,000 Commonwealth war dead commemorated in the United Kingdom, who looks after them and how and why our approach is different to anywhere else in the CWGC. Osmandwall Cemetery, Orkney The Scale of the Task You may be surprised to know that over 308,000 Commonwealth World War Dead are commemorated in the United Kingdom. Their graves and memorials can be found in a staggering 13,000 different locations. This is the highest total of World War commemorations in any country, other than France. In contrast to the CWGC-owned military cemeteries on the continent, the vast majority of UK locations are owned or operated by local authorities, churches and even private companies and individuals. It is their responsibility to care for the cemetery as a whole, with the CWGC taking a specific interest in the care of any war graves in each site. Our Aim Although these circumstances are different to our work overseas, the CWGC s UK team still aims to provide fit and appropriate commemoration for all those who died in the two world wars and who lie buried or commemorated in the UK. The team do so through a series of regular inspections and carefully planned maintenance programmes.

2 Who looks after the graves? A CWGC UK Area stonemason at work To address these challenges, we employ a 110-strong workforce and have over 4,500 commercial contracts in place. A team of regional inspectors ensures that all maintenance agreements are satisfactory and a number of caretakers, stonemasons and gardeners carry out maintenance and renovations and supplement contractors work where required. With the majority of sites in the UK containing only scattered or singular graves and with a vast geographical spread, almost every site requires a unique solution to inspection, care and upkeep. Why are there war graves in the UK? The care of war graves in the UK is the responsibility of the CWGC s United Kingdom Area based at our Head Office in Maidenhead. Nevertheless, before any work can be undertaken, there must be considerable liaison with a range of stakeholders, including local councils, parishes or private landowners. The practice of non-repatriation of the dead which was established during the First World War meant that Commonwealth servicemen and women who died on active service abroad, were buried abroad. The majority of those buried in the United Kingdom are therefore the men and women who died at Little Marlow Cemetery home in military hospitals. Gardener at Brookwood Military Cemetery Others may have died in training accidents or air raids and some were killed in action in the air or at sea in coastal waters, with their bodies washed ashore.

3 For most of these casualties, the UK was their home. As wartime service burials for those who died in their own country were not strongly regulated, they were laid to rest not only in war cemeteries but in locations chosen by their families often in family graves scattered throughout cemetery grounds. The graves of those for whom the UK was not home are centred in areas where there were military training camps and hospitals and, during the Second World War, air force bases from which Commonwealth squadrons operated. CWGC plot at Cambridge City Cemetery Over 100,000 missing naval and air force casualties are also commemorated on the great memorials at Chatham, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Tower Hill and Runnymede. WHAT TO LOOK FOR Directly maintained sites: Five cemeteries in the UK are directly controlled and cared for by our staff and bear the strongest comparisons to those overseas. Between them they contain approximately 8,500 war graves. They are: Brookwood Military Cemetery; Cambridge City Cemetery; Cannock Chase War Cemetery; Newark Upon Trent Cemetery and Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery. Brookwood Memorial The design of these cemeteries allows the CWGC to establish and maintain flower borders and turf similar to those in war cemeteries overseas. Military cemeteries: Here war graves appear alongside other non-world war service burials. These cemeteries largely remain the property of the Ministry of Defence, with the Commission taking responsibility for the Commonwealth world-war graves. Many of these sites have a similar maintenance regime and commemorative approach to the war cemeteries that we directly control and maintain.

4 War grave plots: In both World Wars, land was set aside by cemetery authorities and churches specifically for war burials. There are about 600 of these plots, containing between them 20,000 graves. These plots generally contain horticultural and structural features common to the Commonwealth war cemeteries abroad including a Cross of Sacrifice or Stone of Remembrance if the plot, or total number of graves, is large enough. Under a new initiative, where there are distinct groups of ten or more war graves in a cemetery, the CWGC is able to turn these into war grave plots by introducing headstone borders and planting. Scattered war graves: Individual graves account for the great majority of war burials in the UK and are to be found in every conceivable type of burial ground including many local churchyards. The majority are marked with Commission headstones but a significant number, over 30,000, are marked by private memorials chosen by relatives at the time. These graves are perhaps the most Kilchoan Cemetery, Ardnamurchan challenging to maintain as they are generally located amongst other graves that are not the responsibility of the CWGC. Here the CWGC has had to adopt a practical approach to care. The headstone should be clean and upright and the surrounds should be tidy. The grave should be accessible but it is generally not possible to establish or maintain border planting in front of the grave. Screen walls: Where local regulations prevented the marking of individual graves by headstones, screen walls were erected to commemorate the individuals by name. In addition, screen walls can be used to commemorate casualties whose remains were cremated and also in instances of alternative commemoration, where the graves in a cemetery or churchyard are no longer deemed maintainable. Screen wall at Birmingham (Warstone Lane) Cemetery

5 Memorials: More than 130,000 of the Commonwealth servicemen and women commemorated in the UK have no known grave but are instead remembered, by name, on memorials to the missing. Runnymede Memorial